Chile is a cool country, or at least that’s what its inhabitants perceive according to a survey by the Universidad Central, which created the questionnaire that 300 people of both sexes from the the Metropolitan Region answered, regarding precisely how cool they felt.

The results reveal that 75.7% of those polled believe that Chile has become a cool country in the last few years. 35.7% of the cases see this social image in the use of technology like cellular phones (iPhone, Blackberry), while 19.7% highlight the clothes that Chileans wear.

Other items that were appreciated as very cool were going to bars, which have become fashionable, as well as going to the restaurant terraces in the malls.

When asked about these results, the sociologist Andrés Llanos expressed a few objections: “These numbers have to be analyzed with calm, because it’s normal for people for create myths around what we are as Chileans that tend to exaggerate the country’s self-image to compensate what we have been historically,” the professional said.

In addition, Llanos explains that people interpret the word cool differently, as people tend to see it as something positive, open-minded and tolerant toward different expressions that can be observed around the world. However, there continues to be a certain conservatism and prejudice in Chile, where being cool is perceived as lacking in values.

“Our country is in a unique stage in which cultural contacts have allowed the rapid assimilation of technological and material elements, but the assimilation of beliefs and changes in mentalities involve a slower process that implies a greater cultural shift,” the academic concludes.

The people polled have a similar position, as despite the fact that the majority believe that Chile is cool, they still believe that more progress can be made along these lines, with particular emphasis on an education that is free of prejudice and which fosters the development of artistic and cultural activities, such as music, where there is a broad mosaic of possibilities and trends.